Lost in the Dark
By E.M. Megs
Chapter 18 – Signing Omens
An odd feeling filled her as she closed the door behind the raven-haired man that she'd come to call a close friend. In all her life she had never once acted or dressed like a female while residing in Kira. Not until she had met Kyoya Ohtori. And if she thought really hard about it, a lot of her stress had actually started after she had met him as well.
He had to be planning something. Something more than introducing her to the public.
That was the only reason she could possibly think of that would explain his sudden proposal for her to go with him to the ball as well as his inquiry about her feelings. She touched her lips with her fingertips gently. Admittedly, that kiss had been a bit different than the others. Normally, she just submitted to them and waited for him to cut it off, but this one she had actually felt the need to push back. For that one, something inside of her had just told her tokiss him.
That was another thing that had only started after she had met him. She couldn't remember ever having lip-locked before she had encountered the Narian royal.
He had really turned her whole life upside down just by appearing in it.
She shut her eyes and leaned against the door, pushing back the ache in her chest that had been appearing more and more lately when he wasn't there. "You said you were never interested in anyone like that." She cringed slightly as his words floated back into her head. No. There was no way that she was even the slightest bitinfatuated with him. It was impossible. Utterly impossible.
Yet, as she opened her eyes and hurried toward the back room to answer her father's call, she couldn't help thinking that maybe she wasn't as in control of her emotions as she thought she was.
–
"Where's Prince Yuiichi?" Haruhi asked the next morning, looking around for the missing Narian royal. She knew Hikaru would be gone. He was competing after all. None of her subordinates knew exactly where the eldest Ohtori child was though.
She sighed, about ready to wring someone's neck until Kyoya murmured, "Calm yourself, Corporal. He's competing. And instinct tells me he'll win." She glared at him. He was teasing her. It was very subtle teasing but it was teasing none-the-less. She had half the mind to smack him but restrained herself. Akito looked between the glaring Corporal and his brother with a bit of suspicion.
"I heard that Father woke up last night," he said quietly, gauging both of their reactions. Kyoya's eyes shot up to his and narrowed while the Corporal's shifted with strained ease from his brother's to his own. He smirked inwardly.
"Don't joke around, Akito," Kyoya muttered in a low voice, anger spiking in his eyes. "I would have been informed if he had." He spared a glance at Haruhi again.
The second Narian Prince paused a moment then chuckled darkly. "I apologize, Little Brother. I couldn't resist. You looked like you needed a bit of relief."
"No relief would come from Father," Kyoya growled shortly. He turned his back on his elder brother just as attention was called to center-arena to start the Magic Combat competition. Akito merely cast a glance at Haruhi and his younger brother one more time with a smirk, his thoughts whirring slightly. Something was going on between the Kiran Corporal and Narian King, and he was going to find out what it was.
–
Before anyone really knew it, the finals were upon them and, once more, Tamaki was having dinner with the Narian royal family and Haruhi. She sat next to Kyoya, much to her best friend's disappointment. She kept glancing at him subtly, trying to figure out what the hell he could be planning for tomorrow night. It wasn't at all unlike him to hide something from her until the last moment. But she couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was this time.
And she had a feeling that she would really want to know what was coming this time too.
"Do you find something interesting on my face, Corporal? Or do you just think that staring at me needlessly is going to help you do your job any better?" She jumped at the sound of his voice. He wasn't even looking at her, just gazing at his plate as he cut a bit of his meat. She shook her head quickly and returned her gaze to her own plate.
"I apologize if I offended you, Your Majesty," she muttered, "I was merely spacing."
"So I can see," he replied coolly. She winced at his tone, expecting something more but got nothing. In fact, it wasn't much later that he wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin and stood, startling her. She moved to follow him as did one of his two guards but he waved them off and murmured, "I'll be fine on my own. No need to leave your meals unfinished."
Haruhi looked at the other man he'd been addressing, the red head. His eyes met hers and narrowed. "Betwh eo vyo otwa uhwi rym Ogki?" he asked coldly.
She translated silently in her head then opened her mouth and started in Kiran, "I won't-" she cut herself off when she remembered that this man didn't speak her second language and restarted again in Narian. "J onwo smha nhi. Otdo srywo." It still seemed like Kasanoda didn't believe her until Kyoya just nodded at him. He seated himself hesitantly once more as she turned to the Narian King, "I'm finished anyway."
"Who will look after the Prince?" he asked her, amusement flickering in his eyes as they darted toward Tamaki and back to her.
"Private Hikaru can," she replied promptly, noticing one of the servants in the room scuttling away to find the red-headed Moradian almost immediately.
"Then I have no objections." He turned on his heel and left the room with her trailing after him. Akito looked at Yuiichi, sending him a silent message, 'There's something off here.' His older brother merely shrugged apathetically and continued eating.
–
The minute that they were out of sight and hearing range of the dining room, Kyoya turned to her sharply. "No more of that," he said quietly. She shot him a quizzical look. "I think Akito suspects something. And if he figures it out it won't be so easy to convince him to keep it to himself."
"But you could still do it."
"I can't hide every single thing, Haruhi," he grunted, running a hand down the lower half of his face. He seemed stressed to her. More stressed than usual. "Just do me a favor and don't do something like that again. It has to appear that our relationship is strictly business and that we didn't know each other at all before I came here."
"It is strictly business," she injected sharply.
He shook his head quickly. "Not to Akito. To him it seems like it's more intimate than that. I don't want him finding out that you're female, let alone that you're the same woman I've supposedly been sleeping with for that past three months."
"How do you know that he knows?" she asked, lowering her voice as she heard the creak of a pair of wooden wheels coming from farther down the hall.
"The look in his eye says it all," he breathed, turning and marching back down the hall with her on his heels just as Akito came into view in his wheelchair. She glanced back at the elder Ohtori's narrowed eyes briefly then looked forward again.
–
They reached his bedroom fast and without Akito following them any further. "I assume you have a plan for tomorrow already?" she mumbled, looking around the room like someone might be hiding under the bed or behind the curtains listening in.
"Of course," he replied swiftly. "The Corporal will have fallen ill. You will arrive as Haruhi tomorrow morning and be escorted to my room by Nekozawa."
"How early?" she interrupted quickly, knowing he wouldn't like it if it was too early.
"Doesn't matter. It could still be dark for all I care. The point is that you will arrive in a wig and dress that I'll provide later tonight. After that there will be no more of Corporal Namahi until after we leave the next morning. It's imperative that everyone is convinced that you as Namahi is ill and no one, not even Tamaki, visits you."
Haruhi nodded in understanding. "What if..." she cut herself off quickly, thinking over her words before turning her eyes to his and continuing quietly, "What if it doesn't go the way you think it will? What if Akito figures it out?"
Kyoya's glasses glinted dangerously at the mention of his plan possibly failing. "It will," he stated with conviction, "And there's no way that he'll find out as long as you stick to the plan."
"I will. I promise," she muttered, the slightest bit of doubt still flickering in her mind no matter how much she trusted him.
–
"Namahi, are you ok?" Tamaki asked her quietly later that night, right after Yuiichi had lost to the Chartonian finalist for champion of all Filandria. She was trying to hint that she was sick just as Kyoya had told her too. A fake coughing fit and an actual headache later, Tamaki was finally starting to catch on to what all of Kyoya's family already had.
"Hope you're not becoming sick, Corporal," Kyoya muttered, his voice riddled with a kind of indifference that only he could master. "Of course," he added softly, "It would beneficial to myself if you were to." The blonde Kiran Prince shot a glare at the Narian, who merely smirked in response, like he enjoyed rattling Tamaki's cage a bit.
Haruhi, however, wasn't the slightest bit amused either. And expressed her displeasure with his statement with a glare of her own. "I think I'm coming down with something," she grunted, "Might take a sick day tomorrow."
"Is it because you've been outside in the cold too much?" Tamaki reprimanded with a stern look that did nothing but make him look like a child pretending to be the parent.
She sighed exasperatedly. "You know that's a myth."
"But it still happens. I wonder why..." She was glaring at the blonde now much to Kyoya's amusement as well as that of Akito's. Haruhi sneezed, this time not a fake one. "See!" Tamaki exclaimed triumphantly. She rolled her eyes and covered her face with her hand.
"I'm going home as soon as possible," she muttered, holding her head a bit as she rubbed her temples.
"Do you want me to walk you home?" Tamaki asked with the same charming politeness that he always used. Haruhi almost smacked herself. Charming? Tamaki was charming yes, but not to her. Never to her. And he rarely ever asked if he should walk her home. Her heart yanked.
"No," she stated bluntly with a small strained smile. "I'll be perfectly fine, Tamaki. You know that." She saw Kyoya very subtly looking at her out of the corner of his eye. Like he could tell what exactly was happening.
"But what if you pass out on your way home?"
She clenched her teeth. "I'll. Be. Fine," she gritted out quickly then turned to Kyoya, "Are you ready to retire Your Majesty?"
"Just about, yes," he replied quietly, looking over at a strangely quiet Yuki only to find that she'd fallen asleep. He chuckled softly under his breath and stood from his seat, carefully slipping his arms under his niece and lifting her out of her own chair. The 5-year-old grumbled in her sleep before pushing her face into her uncle's chest. 'Oddly like Kyoya... Interesting,' Haruhi mused to herself.
–
Kyoya grabbed a sack from his room before heading to his eldest brother's next door. After setting Yuki down in her bed, he tossed it at her. The little girl grumbled again and her eyes opened just a slit. "Uncle Kyo?"
"Shh," Kyoya whispered with a small smile, "Go back to sleep Yuki." Haruhi watched speechless as he smoothed the hair back from his niece's forehead and leaned down to press his lips to her exposed temple. "I'll be here when you wake up. And I think Auntie Haru will be too." He passed a small glance in the slightly shocked brunette's direction.
"Hnnnnnng," Yuki mumbled, half-asleep, half-delirious with sleep, "Uncle Kyo?"
"Hmm?" he hummed in reply, continuously stroking the 5-year-old's hair.
"I miss Mommy."
"I know you do." A sad smile came to his face as he knelt there next to his niece's bed. "I know, Yuki."
"When's Grandpa going to be better?"
"I don't know, sweetie."
"I hope... he's better... soon."
"Me too," Kyoya breathed, watching her until she fell asleep again moments later. Haruhi stood stock still behind him, once again feeling remorse for not telling him about the assassination attempt on his family sooner than she had. Mayuri would possibly still be alive if she had. When Kyoya pushed himself up off the floor and turned to her, he was as composed as always. "Because of this damn war, that little girl is hurting," he murmured in a low deadly tone, as if it was the first time he was actually realizing it, "I will do whatever it takes to end it."
"So will I," Haruhi said softly, gazing at him sympathetically. She understood completely, of course. Everything she had done so far was an attempt to try to lessen the death toll, but what if she got Kyoya to work with her to actually end it?
Now that... That could actually work.
–
She had the dream again that night. The Witching Dream that had been haunting her conscious since she'd first had it while she was sick. Only it was different this time. There were snips and pieces of things. Nothing was moving. A much different kind of Witching Dream than the kind she was used to.
Kyoya and her – standing face to face, close enough to touch each other. A ring – diamond encrusted silver, amethyst center. A dress – lavender in color, nearly floor length. Dancing – spinning circles, hundreds of couples. A scream.
Akito – empathetic for once instead of indifferent.
Tamaki – incredibly angry and so unlike his normal persona.
A knife and a little girl's throat. Laughter – horrible cackling laughter. A noose in a dungeon. The Narian flag blowing in the wind as it burned...
She jerked awake, gasping for air like she had been underwater for a century. She shook her head quickly, trying to clear the fog enough to try to make sense of it. She blinked rapidly and fumbled for the matches by her bedside table, striking one and lighting the candle next to her bed quickly.
She was shivering, a cold sweat pouring down her face. She shook her head again, the images repeating themselves in her brain. She had to write this down or she'd never make sense of any of it. She grabbed the candle by the base and carried it to the living room where a scrap piece of parchment was on the desk in the corner with a quill.
Haruhi tried drawing pictures for some of them but ended up just writing captions underneath them anyway. A shiver ran down her spine when she completed the last set of pictures with the little girl with a knife at her throat and the burning Narian flag. She stared at them.
She was almost positive that the first seven were completely separate from the last four. They didn't fit together, though the middle two could be anywhere. She shuffled over to the sack Kyoya had given her that was lying on a chair close by and hurriedly opened it. A dress. Blue. She sighed with relief. So it wasn't going to take place at the ball.
"Haruhi?" her father's groggy voice called from the doorway, "What're you doing up? It's hardly even dawn yet." She quickly closed the sack and snatched up the paper, not wanting to worry Ranka.
"I couldn't sleep," she lied quietly, hoping he wouldn't notice that her nightwear was still plastered to her skin from the sweat that had coated it only minutes earlier.
"Bad dreams?" he guessed, eying her oddly. It was like he could just sense her troubles. She swore in her head and cursed that he was the person she was closest to. Of course he would be able to tell.
"No, no," she mumbled, "I just woke up and couldn't get back to sleep."
"Buwoshybrar," he muttered, "Tell Daddy the truth!" She held back a small gasp of surprise at the swear that fell from her father's mouth. That in itself was a rare occasion.
"Alright, alright," she grumbled reluctantly, "It was a bad dream. But it was an odd one." She glanced behind her out a window, wondering briefly if it was too early to go up to Kyoya's room. The sun was just barely starting to rise. If it took as long as she thought it was going to for her to get the wig on, then by the time she was changed she could leave.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
She shook her head. "It was probably nothing," she murmured, edging back toward her bedroom, sack in hand. "Just a bunch of random pictures. Not connected in any way but enough to wake me up." Ranka eyed her suspiciously but let her hurry off to her room without further questioning. "Go back to sleep, Dad!" she called over her shoulder right before her bedroom door shut. The red-head grumbled under his breath and trudged back toward his own bedroom, thinking more sleep was probably just what he needed.
–
The sun was just barely over the hills in the east when she finally left her home with a cloak on over the dress she was wearing. She looked up and down the street to make sure that no one was watching as she left. She may have been wearing a wig as a disguise but she still felt insecure about being seen.
By the time she reached the front gates, her nerves were so on edge that she was starting to wonder if she had made a mistake by accepting Kyoya's invitation (demand) to go with him to the ball – disguise or not.
At the front gates to the palace she was stopped by Romesa – which did absolutely nothing to quell her anxiety of being caught. "Who're ye and what're ye doing out so early Miss?" he asked kindly with a small smile.
"Ah," she mumbled, stumbling over her words in an effort to be formal and polite despite knowing the man for her entire life, "My name's Haruhi Fari. I'm here to see Kyo- King Kyoya Ohtori of Nari. I'm to be his companion to the Festival's closing ball tonight."
"Ah, yes. Miss Fari. We were expecting ye, though not so early, and certainly not on foot."
"I had the carriage drop me at the edge of the city so it would not wake anyone still sleeping while passing through."
"Thoughtful of ye, Miss Fari. I suppose I'll escort ye up."
"Thank you, sir." He turned and led her through the gates silently, nodding at one of the other guards inside to take his place momentarily. She followed him with only slight hesitation. Her father had been sound asleep when she left and she hoped that when he woke he'd just assume that she'd gone on duty.
"I've 'eard that King Ohtori 'as a bit of a temperament that makes 'im quite unpleasant in the morning," Romesa stated to her quietly in an attempt at small talk. She nodded, smiling a bit in amusement.
"He does. Nothing I can't handle though. I've been putting up with him for three months already, I'll be damned if I can't deal with his morning temper."
The corner of the guard's lip lifted a bit at this but he said nothing since they were entering an occupied wing of the palace. The rest of the walk was spent in silence until Romesa whispered a few words to Nekozawa at Kyoya's door, gave her a smile, and walked away again to return to his post. The slightly creepy guard opened the door and readied himself to wake up his King. She touched his shoulder and shook her head, whispering, "It's alright. I'll be fine. No need to wake him."
He backed out graciously, closing the door behind him. She glanced at the lump on the bed that was steadily breathing, rolling her eyes a bit as she strode over to the balcony doors quietly. With one quick movement she opened them and slid through, shutting them behind behind her with as little noise as she could manage. She slipped the piece of parchment out of the small pocket in the front of her skirt that was barely visible, forcing herself to unfold it and look over the reminders of her dream again.
She had to make sense of this if she was going to prevent it from happening. She had been staring at the paper for at least a good 10 minutes when the doors behind her opened. She jumped at the sound, turning quickly only to find a very miffed looking Kyoya standing in the doorway. "What the hell are you doing here so early?"
"Couldn't sleep," she muttered, turning her scrutinizing gaze back to the puzzle in her hands.
"So you decided to come disrupt mine instead?"
"I tried not to wake you," Haruhi murmured, glancing at him apologetically.
"Hell of a lot of good that did," he grumbled, turning back toward the room he was staying in.
She sighed and muttered, "Excuse me then." She followed him back through the doors into the bedroom, where he was already stumbling back towards the bed. She went back to staring at the paper as soon as she found a comfortable spot on the bed that gave her a decent amount of dim light.
"What're you working on?" he asked quietly, looking irritated even though he was obviously curious.
"Nothing of your concern," she replied just as softly, "Go back to sleep. I promise I won't disturb you further."
"Haruhi. What is it?"
Another sigh fell from her lips, this one more exasperated than anything. "I'm scared," she said plainly. "I had a Witching Dream and I'm just... I'm scared." She choked up a bit at the end of her sentence, actually feeling the full force of her fright in her throat now.
He sighed and grumbled about definitely not being able to get more sleep now. "Tell me," he finally spoke to her quietly. She silently handed him the page while leaning over to light a candle and hand him his glasses.
"They're just... images. But they're so foreboding. Especially at the end." She felt a shiver run down her spine, her hands shaking. She really was scared out of her wits of this. "I really hate being a Witch sometimes."
Kyoya merely regarded the pictures and words she'd drawn out earlier that morning, the frown on his face growing deeper the further down the page he got. "Who is this?" he asked, pointing at the little girl and the knife while looking her straight in the eyes.
"I... don't know."
"What little girls do you know?"
Haruhi covered her mouth with her hand quickly. "Yuki," she whispered. He nodded, shutting his eyes as if she'd just confirmed his own fears. "Who's the noose supposed to be intended for then?"
"I have no clue," he replied softly, returning his eyes to the paper. "Could be anyone. The twins, you, me. It could really... be anyone." Haruhi swallowed back the lump of uncontrollable fear that was building there.
"What's the first part about?" she mumbled. He had to know something if he was part of the dream. He had to have some kind of idea even if it was vague. He shook his head. "I know that you know something about it. The Witching Dreams I've been having since I came home always had something to do with you. You have to know something."
"You've had others?"
She nodded, looking away from him as images from those nightmares flooded into her mind. "You always end up dead by my hand in them. I... I don't like it. But don't change the subject. What do you know about this?"
"It's nothing," he grunted, handing the paper back to him. "There isn't anything within that part of your dream that I'm aware will cause anyone harm in any manner. Don't worry."
"Kyoya. You have to tell me. If it has anything to do with someone dying then I want to be able to prevent it."
"No one will end up dying. Don't be melodramatic."
"It's not melodrama if it's true! I don't remember the last time that one of my Witching Dreams ended with someone not dead." She grew silent when his eyes narrowed into a slight glare in her direction. "Just... promise me you won't do anything rash," she mumbled finally.
He stared at her, eyes unobstructed by his regular glasses and murmured, "Promise." He just barely suppressed a sigh as he looked at her, practically feeling the anxiety coming off her in waves. "Haruhi, don't worry too much. Try to sleep." She huffed and grumbled under her breath but he merely chuckled softly and turned over. He shut his eyes, completely intent on going to sleep until he felt her curl up against his back. He allowed himself to smile a bit as he drifted off.
–
Haruhi's first sign that things weren't going to go quite the way she wanted them to at the ball was when Akito paid her a 'visit' while Kyoya was out. "Utleli Uherbro?" Akito called through the mahogany door, lightly knocking with his knuckles.
Haruhi swallowed back the lump in her throat as she walked to the door and answered hesitantly. "He's not here," she murmured with a smile in the Narian Prince's direction.
"Haruhi," he started with surprise before his same suave smirk returned. She tried not to groan. He was still somehow pining for her attentions even after Kyoya and Fuyumi's efforts to keep him away from her. "My little brother left you all by your lonesome?" he asked with mock sympathy.
"He's coming right back. Said something about needing to see a tailor about my ball gown." She didn't like the way the 26-year-old was looking at her. Regardless of whether he was in a wheelchair or not.
"Was the Corporal with him?"
"Corporal...?" she questioned, smoothly trying to sound like she didn't know who he was talking about.
"Corporal Namahi Marioka. You haven't met him?" She shook her head. "He's a Kiran soldier set to
protect Kyoya while he's here. But it's more like he's babysitting us. Personally, I think little brother's taken a liking to him." She almost blanched at the way the older man's voice suggested something possibly sexual just like the way his eyebrows wiggling implied something of the same nature.
"I severely doubt that your... line of thought is correct Your Highness. Kyoya is too... good-natured to cheat on me. And even if he wasn't, one: he knows better, and two: it most certainly wouldn't be with a man." Her regular blunt tone cut through the air eliciting a chuckle both from Akito and another person who was approaching. Haruhi turned. Kyoya closed the rest of the space between them, engulfing her in his arms and smell all at once.
"You seem awfully sure of yourself, my dear," he murmured mischievously in her ear, a low chuckle barely hinted in his words as his arms squeezed her waist lightly before releasing her. "Did you need something Akito?"
"Yuichii was wondering if you could watch Yuki for a bit while he gets her dress."
"I took care of it already while I was obtaining Haruhi's."
Akito rose an eyebrow. "Is that so?" The younger Ohtori nodded in quiet response.
"I shall inform Hbi Uherbro and not bother you further until the ball."
"Thank you, Akito," Kyoya answered curtly, sweeping through his bedroom door with Haruhi hooked on one arm. He closed the door and let out a small growl, "Assumptive bastard."
"Agreed. He gives me just a small dose of the creeps," she muttered ungraciously with a frown. The Akito from her dream flitted into her mind; brown eyes softer, lips curved slightly in an empathetical sad smile, eyebrows creased with something akin to worry but not quite. What the hell would have to happen in order for that look to appear on that man's face?
–
The second sign came in the form of flowing fabric, a corset (or a bodice – she couldn't really tell the difference between the two), silk ribbon, and thread all thrown together in the form of a dress.
A lavender dress.
A lavender dress that looked eerily like the one from her dream.
"Kyoya?" she squeaked in a voice an octave higher than her normal one – partially because the corset-bodice-whatever made it harder to breath and partially because her anxiety was making it that way. She stared at her form in the mirror behind the folding board that had been put up for her to change behind, distinctly remembering this exact dress and every other image that had come with it.
"Hmm?" he hummed from the other side, sounding incredibly close.
"Are you positively sure that this is my dress?" 'Oh please God let him say no.'
Instead of answering her the way she would have liked him to, he retorted with a question of his own, "Why? Is it not the right size?" And why the hell did he sound displeased with that? Angry even?
"No, no! Though it is a bit difficult to breathe, it seems to fit alright..."
"What's the problem then, Haruhi?"
She took a deep breath, stepped out from behind the screen and slurred, "Idon'tthinkthisisaverygoodidea," with such speed that he would hardly have heard her if he'd been paying attention. As it was, he'd been too busy admiring her appearance to do anything of the sort.
He blinked a few times. "What?" he managed dumbly after a few more moments of merely staring at her. He hadn't calculated that getting her that particular dress would prove to look so incredibly stunning on her that it became a distraction. Though it was a bit more simple than some that would probably be worn, it was elegant in it's own right.
Off-the-shoulders long light lavender sleeves bound themselves loosely around the tops of her forearms and wrists. The skirt was only a bit darker than the sleeves and flowed casually to her ankles. The bodice, the darkest purple of the ensemble, was basically a loose corset that was tight enough to take away some of her breathing capabilities while accenting her curves in just the right way.
He had to swallow just to moisten his mouth enough to be able to get the single word he'd spoken out. She sighed in exasperation, obviously unhappy with his 'choice' of words. "I don't think this is a good idea," she repeated, slower this time just to ensure that it got through to him this time.
"Why do you believe so?" he replied, choosing his words carefully as to not upset her.
"This... This is the dress from my dream."
He was silent, contemplating what she was telling him with a slight frown on his normally composed face. "That doesn't necessarily mean anything. Perhaps all the images in your dream aren't connected at all." She pursed her lips, annoyed with his obvious avoidance of the subject. She let it slide, however, knowing it was better than push him for an actual answer. She stepped around him lightly to allow him to get himself dressed behind the screen, looking for the shoes he had set aside somewhere for her earlier.
"Kyoya?"
"Hmm?" he hummed from behind the screen. She glanced over and briefly saw the hazy outline of him pushing his pants down to change them. She looked away again, searching idly for the purple flats, if only to keep herself from turning red.
"Where did you put my shoes?"
"Oh. By the bathroom door I think. Either that or the balcony." Haruhi sighed as she noticed them sitting right where he had said they were. She strode over quickly and slid her feet into them.
"And my wig?"
"Bathroom." She wandered toward the bathroom that they shared, avoiding turning her eyes toward the screen. Her long brown wig was already styled and sitting near the sink. She carefully brushed back her hair, which actually could use a bit of a trim just by itself. She felt a presence behind her a split second before a pair of pale slender hands picked the wig up and placed it gently on her head. She pushed her real hair underneath the net, looking in the mirror in front of her and at both the extra hair sticking out and at the head that was slowly lowering itself next to hers to rest it's chin on her shoulder.
She replaced her hands at her sides, looking at them in the mirror. His hair was in perfect order, as it always was. His glasses set on his face in a way that made the onyx eyes behind them glint slightly with mischief. "Beautiful," he whispered, referring to her hair. She swore that, just for a moment, her heart skipped a beat at the compliment. She took a quick look at her hair. It was done up in an elegant but messy bun, strands from the bangs left out to frame her face.
Her heart was pounding in her chest as she looked between the two of them. He was born and raised royalty. She was supposed to have been but ended up being raised as the daughter of a royal court member. She inwardly shook her head. They shouldn't be together. Hell, they weren't even together, they were faking. They wouldn't have even met if she hadn't been the spy that Kira sent to him.
She got that feeling in her stomach again. That feeling of apprehensive fear. Like something was going to happen. Something not necessarily good, but wasn't necessarily bad either. It was the feeling you got right before you throw up everything you've eaten because of apprehension.
"Scared?" he asked softly, breath whispering over her ear.
"Terrified," she whispered back. He merely smirked and pulled her away from the mirror, toward the door; toward the source of her nervousness.
–
She was nervous for reasons that she couldn't explain. Yes, she was about to go out in front of hundreds of people dressed as a woman, but Kyoya had said that no one would know who she was. And she trusted him right? Yes she did. Why did she even need to question her trust in him?
"Haruhi," his voice broke through her thoughts. Her eyes shot to his in surprise. He chuckled, "You'll be fine. Everything will be fine." How many times now had he said those words to her since he'd met her? And every time he spoke them they ended up being true.
"I know," she replied softly, shooting him a smile. He returned it with a smirk. He took her hand gently and squeezed it with silent reassurance that his words were true before nodding at the doorman to announce them.
"His royal majesty Kyoya Ohtori, King of Nari, and his companion, Haruhi Fari!" Eyes turned to the staircase almost at once. Haruhi swallowed anxiously as he led her down the stairs with ease. His brothers followed behind them, Yuiichi with Yuki and Akito alone. Fuyumi and Fuko after them. Each announced separately.
The Narian King, of course, led her straight to the dance floor, holding her tight in an almost protective manner as he danced with alertness. She stayed close to him, anxious that she was be scrutinized by the crowd but not for the reasons that most women would worry about. She couldn't calm herself no matter how much he tried to put her at ease.
"May I step in?" a calm gentle voice cut in. Haruhi looked up. "I promised myself that I'd have a dance with the woman who seems to have cracked through the cold-hearted Prince Kyoya Ohtori's shell." She stared at the Kiran King for the longest time, then glanced at her current dance partner.
"I'm willing to allow her, if she's willing to leave my side," Kyoya replied politely with a smile in Yuzuru's direction as he met Haruhi's gaze. She gave him a pleading look but he merely chuckled and pressed his lips to the top of her head. "Go on, my dear. You'll never know how well I dance unless you dance with a few other men as well." She glowered as him slightly as her placed her hand in Yuzuru Suoh's and turned in the direction of the punch bowl.
"You clean up quite nicely, Miss Marioka," Tamaki's father murmured as he began leading her through a waltz. Haruhi looked at him apprehensively.
"I'm... not sure what you're talking about Your Majesty."
"Come now, Namahi. I've watched you grow up with my son. You thought that I didn't know you were a woman?"
She was quiet for a moment, trying to think up a suitable answer. "You're certainly more observant than Tamaki is."
He chuckled and replied, "I've had more practice. My only question at the moment is why you're with the third son of Yoshio Ohtori than someone closer to home like Tamaki or one of the twins."
"Promise you won't tell?" she teasingly questioned. He nodded solemnly. "We're faking it so his family doesn't suspect anything when I'm there spying for Kira."
Yuzuru raised an eyebrow. "He approves of this sneaking?"
She was quiet, trying to answer in a way that would make sense when truly talking about the young Ohtori. "He... doesn't approve per say. But he doesn't mind helping me stay safe so long as I don't put him or his family in any immediate danger."
"So it was probably you who soiled the assassination attempt."
"Forgive me Your Majesty," she stated softly, "I just don't believe that killing either royal family will do anything at all to help finish the war. Kyoya doesn't either. He's a good man."
"With this, I'm in agreement with. Assassinations are no way to end a war. However, I can't say that I can condone the foiling of a planned Kiran operation. You'll have to see to it yourself that none of the generals find out about your little deal with him. I'm afraid that if they do and act to arrest you, I won't be able to stop them from doing so nor will Tamaki."
"Your warning is heeded, Your Majesty."
"Good." He slowed his dancing to a stop along the edge of the ballroom. "Now, allow me to return you to your companion, Miss Fari."
–
Half an hour of dancing later, Haruhi's feet were getting sore and Kyoya was getting tired of attempting to calm her while in the eyes of the public. "Come with me," he murmured, leading her carefully out to the same balcony that she seemed to always get stuck on with someone during a ball or party like this. The only difference was that it was still cold despite it almost being spring, thus she scowled as the cool evening air hit her skin through the thin material of her sleeves.
"Why are we out here?" she asked, wrapped her arms around herself. A jacket dropped onto her shoulders seconds later. She looked at him quickly as he walked past her toward the bannister. He motioned her over then leaned against the stone behind him. She moved forward slowly to stand beside him. He faced her after a moment.
"We're out here, because we both need a break and you obviously can't calm down."
She scoffed lightly. "I was calm."
"You were gripping my hand so hard I thought it might make my fingertips fall asleep," he deadpanned, narrowing his eyes at her. She sighed and moved one of her hands up to run through her hair until she realized halfway there that she was wearing a wig and said wig was styled in a way that made it impossible to do so without accidentally pulling it off.
"I'm... I'm sorry," she mumbled. He shook his head, reaching over to take her hand.
"I have... something of a gift for you," he muttered, placing his free hand in his pocket. She held her breath, somehow already knowing what it was.
The ring.
"It was my mother's," he said softly as she examined it to confirm that it was the one from her dream. Diamonds, silver, and amethyst. "When in the hands of a person with natural magic like my mother, you can communicate with people across the continent if needed." She let out the breath she'd been holding, relieved, possibly because she had thought that he was going to propose to her again.
"How's it work?" she questioned, taking it in her hands.
"It becomes warm when a message is coming through to you from the person with the necklace that goes with it, which I have. To receive it, press the amethyst to a piece of paper and say Lego. To send something to me, write the message down, press the amethyst to the first word say Cogo, and move the stone to the last word. The longer the message the more magic it takes so I suggest keeping it under 20 words."
She slipped it onto her ring finger carefully, feeling like she might break it if she wasn't cautious. "It's beautiful." She was quiet, still very much relieved that he hadn't proposed or something similar.
"It also have the Narian royal crest engraved in the silver under the amethyst, so I wouldn't advise wearing it on your hand while you're here as a soldier." She nodded in agreement, staying silent. He turned back toward the view from the balcony. Seconds later she heard the last thing that had followed the first section of her dream. A scream.
Her entire body froze when she heard the muffled scream of a woman coming from inside. Kyoya looked toward the doors over his shoulder then strode quickly toward them while she stayed still, staring at his back. He opened one of the doors, looking in to see what the commotion was about. "Stay here," he called back to her. He moved inside and closed the door behind him, out of her sight. She did as he told her to.
Kyoya found the source of the scream by a group of people crowded around something. He saw Tamaki rushing toward the place. Kyoya's stomach churned, getting the feeling in his gut that he was sure Haruhi had felt earlier. As he got closer he could hear Tamaki talking to the twins hurriedly. "Someone go get Namahi."
"The Corporal's sick," Kyoya interjected as he entered the scene. He faltered for a moment when he saw Ranka on the ground but kept up his expressionless face.
Hikaru and Kaoru both knelt next to their king, keeping his heart beating with spells until a healer could get there. Tamaki looked up at him for a single second before he said, "His father just had a heart attack."
Kyoya stood there, his mind moving a mile a minute as he tried to decide what to do. "I'll retrieve him," he said in a barely audible voice as he took back off towards the balcony. When he returned back into Haruhi's sight, her immediate question was asked in a very soft voice, "Who's dead?"
He swallowed and opened his mouth to reply, but stopped himself for some reason, waiting until he could fully analyze her guilt-ridden expression before he told her, "It's your father."
"What?" she gasped, falling to her knees. He could already see tears pooling in her eyes making her seem weak and defenseless – which he knew for a fact that she wasn't. "Dad's dead?"
He looked at her in surprise before realizing his mistake. "What? No. God no. No one's dead. I apologize... I should have clarified. Your father isn't dead, Haruhi. He had a heart attack."
Though this came as a relief to her, she still did the slightest bit of freaking. "What?" Kyoya blinked as she just about stumbled over her own feet trying to make a mad dash to her father's side.
"Haruhi," he muttered, trying to reason with her as he held her back, "You're a woman right now, you can't go out there proclaiming your inherent worry over your father or there will be consequences."
"What do you suggest I do then?" she growled, glaring at him. He almost winced. She was obviously sore from him not clarifying that her was not dead earlier than he had. "Just... Let him lay out there and think that his only child doesn't care the least bit about him?"
"I severely doubt that he has ever thought that, Haruhi." His mind whirred as he tried to think of a solution to this. If she left the ball, changed and returned as Namahi it would probably take too long and could possibly mean giving the army reason to suspect her for some kind of treason. If she just blatantly went out there as she was at that moment there was no doubt in his mind that she would be arrested and hung nearly immediately.
"I'll pretend he's my uncle if I have to, Kyoya," she stated then. The light bulb went off in his head a little hesitantly.
"It's possible," he muttered to himself. She snorted and mumbled a soft, "more than that..." He shot her a condescending look as he thought quickly. Akito would question it, but he could easily write it off as his lover's father and the Corporal's being half-brothers. He nearly rubbed his temple. He shouldn't have been needing to think about this. "Alright. He's your Uncle. Go." He'd deal with the repercussions if any of them came up.
At his permission and release, she hurried toward her father, knowing deep within her that he was possibly the most amazing man she'd ever known. Purely because she knew he would cover for her even if it meant getting himself into trouble.
–
A/N: Excuse the horribleness of this chapter. I was in a vicodin-induced semi-loopiness while writing a lot of it. (If you're asking yourself why I'm on VICODIN, it's because I broke my collar bone. Don't ask.) Super long to make up for the wait? 8D? Like... 15 pages and 8000 words long? (You better LOVE me. I have exams coming up yet I still worked hard to finish this.)
Kudos to: XxNightShroudxX, Enigmaticrose4, The Phantom Devil, Mrs. Ootori43ver, YukiruandPercabeth, nightworldluvr4ever, michiiyu, JUCHKO, SnowWolfSpirit, Countess of Western March, hannachan, and mel. That's 12. Jeez. I'm giving out a lot of kudos as of late. Oh and I almost forgot the lovely Koharu Veddette for being my loyal beta reader even when I'm not so frequent with my updates.
I... wouldn't expect another update before at July. (I get out of school June 28th.) Yeah... It just probably won't happen till summer hits and I have obscene amounts of free time. I apologize in advance for the wait!
Please don't give up on me! There's still (some) hope! Love to all of you for putting up with me!
- E.M. Megs